Carriage of Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup W135 ST-2881

Abstract

Serogroup W135 ST-2881 meningococci caused a cluster of meningitis cases in Niger in 2003. Of 80 healthy persons in the patients' villages, 28 (35%) carried meningococci; 20 of 21 W135 carrier strains were ST-2881. Ten months later, 5 former carriers were still carriers of W135 ST-2881 strains. The serum bactericidal antibody activity changed according to carrier status.

Keywords

• Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W135
• epidemiology
• meningitis
• Niger
• carrier state
• sequence analysis